Hey lovely readers, this is the end of Burnt Cookies! Thank you so much for your support and for taking the time to read my writing!

Disclaimer: I don't own fairy tail or any of it's characters

Gray opened his eyes to a sea of blue locks. He sighed deeply and pulled Juvia closer. She was so warm and she smelled sweet, like honeysuckle after a long rain. He wished he could stay here all day, wrapped up in her and buried beneath her comforters, but he had put it off long enough, he had to go by his place. Gray frowned, lately he hated going back to that building.

It had been four days since he had been home. He probably had a huge stack of junk mail stuck in his mail box. If it weren't for the mail, it would probably be weeks before he went back, the only other thing waiting for him there was dust. Everything he needed was here with Juvia. Gray could remember a time where that apartment felt like his safe place, but now it just felt cold, empty, and lonely.

A few weeks ago Juvia went out of town for a few days due to a training seminar for work. After two days, Gray couldn't take it anymore, he used her spare key and tucked himself into her bed. It had been a poor substitute, but it smelled like her and was so much better than his hard, unwelcoming mattress. He always thought he liked the firm bed and colorless sheets, but Juvia's bed, with it's soft pillowtop, and thick comforters, was like sleeping on a cloud, a fluffy, Juvia-scented cloud. He could even forgive her for having too many throw pillows.

Juvia began to stretch in his arms making small noises as she woke. She smiled and twisted in his arms, kissing him on the lips gently, "Good morning Gray-sama." Then she burrowed herself into his neck, sighing a happy little sigh.

He grinned, she was so adorable. Thinking back to the fact that he would have to leave, Gray drew his brows together and frowned. Juvia pulled her head back and blinked at him, "Is everything okay Gray-sama?"

"I don't want to go back to my place," Gray said, shifting his eyes down to her.

Juvia yawned and rubbed her eyes, "Then don't go today, you could always go get your mail tomorrow."

"No, I mean like, I don't understand why I even bother to keep that place," Gray clarified.

Juvia's eyes widened, "Is Gray-sama saying he wants to move in with Juvia?"

Gray's cheeks reddened, "Well, yea, I mean . . .that's basically what I'm doing anyway right? Would you want me to live here?"

Juvia squealed and leapt on top of him, kissing him all over his face, "Juvia is so happy!"

Gray chuckled and caught her by the sides of the face, stopping her onslaught by taking her lips with his. He ran his hands through her hair and down her back. When he let her go, she sat up slightly dazed, looking down at him through hooded eyes. He gave her a lopsided grin, "So I'll take that as a yes?"

Juvia leapt from the bed and hopped around the room, "Yes, yes, yes! Juvia wants Gray-sama with her always!" She stopped for a moment and grinned at him, "Juvia will make a big breakfast! We must celebrate! And let's go to dinner tonight! A whole day of celebration!"

Gray chuckled at her over-the-top display of excitement. Then when she came close, he grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her back on top of him. "If we're going to have a day of celebration, let's start it off right."

She gave a serious nod, "Of course, Gray-sama knows best."

He pulled her close, unable to stop grinning when he kissed her, "Damn right I do."

"Are you sure you're okay with closing up on your own tonight?" Lucy asked Yukino after she finished putting her bags away and tying on an apron.

"Of course!" Yukino grinned. "You've been closing almost every Saturday now so that I could go spend time with Sting. It's definitely your turn for a night out."

"Well it's not like we're going anywhere fancy, Natsu just wants to take me to Mira's because it's been a year since he came to fix the oven."

Yukino clapped her hands, "That is adorable!"

"I know! Isn't it? I wouldn't have thought he would remember a date like that," Lucy chuckled. "He's always surprising me."

"You should get all dressed up, who cares if it's just Mira's." Yukino pulled out a scale and a container so that she could start weighing flour.

"You know, I think I will!" Lucy grinned, "Natsu probably won't notice the difference, but it definitely makes me happy to look pretty."

"You're so silly Lucy, I'm pretty sure he notices more than you think," Yukino said with a wink.

Sting opened one eye and looked at the clock. It was only ten on a Saturday and some nutjob was pounding on his door. He threw his head back on his pillow and groaned. He had been really hoping to get every minute of sleep he possibly could this morning. Last weekend Yukino ended up spending the night and, though all he could do was kiss her and hold her close, it was the best night he had had in a long time. He was hoping for a repeat tonight, but it would mean having an early morning the next day. Yukino was up by nine and ready to get the day started. If only they were at the point in their relationship where he could use certain methods to keep her in bed. He closed his eyes and grinned, slowly starting to fall back asleep with thoughts of convincing Yukino to stay beneath the covers.

He was jolted awake again when the knocking became louder and accompanied with Rogue calling out his name. Sting rolled out of bed with a growl, stumbling his way towards the door, "Hang on Rogue, I'm coming. Chill out."

When he opened the door Rogue came flying in, a massive grin on his face, "I have the most fantastic news!"

Sting rubbed his eyes and yawned, "It couldn't wait another hour or two?"

Rogue rolled his eyes, "Sting, you are an adult, it's already ten am. Suck it up, go get some coffee."

Sting groaned and dragged himself to the kitchen. "Fine, what's the news?"

"Remember the bid we put in months ago to revamp the internet presence of Iris International?"

Sting dumped grounds into his coffee maker and added water, "Yea, man that was almost half a year ago."

"Well, they got back to me last night, they want us to come in as consultants starting in January. We will work with the tech team on setting up their website, getting them on facebook and twitter, and implementing systems to maintain these things after we leave. She said if they like our work they might bring us in annually to update."

Sting blinked, "What? Really?"

"Yes!" Rogue grinned really big, "The pay is going to be out of this world and this will be a huge gold star on our company's resume. Can you imagine the jobs that will come our way if we can pull this off?"

"Wait, they want us to come in? Like go to Crocus?"

Rogue pulled two mugs out of the cabinet and set them next to the coffee maker. He grinned from ear to ear, Sting had never seen the man look so happy. "Yes, they said it would be about six months, but they will put us up in one of their townhomes and cover the cost of our rent for our apartments here. We couldn't ask for a better deal than that! Six months of great pay, no housing costs; I'm going to be able to get a new car after this one!"

Sting fell back against the counter and covered his face with his hands, "Six months of living in Crocus!"

"Yes!" Rogue finally really looked at Sting and his smile fell. "Wait, how are you not more excited about this?"

Sting sighed and filled his mug with the just finished coffee. He took a sip and burned his tongue. He set the mug down angrily, this was already turning into a very frustrating day. "Rogue, that's six months of living in Crocus. Crocus is four hours away! Just when things were going so well with Yukino. What if she doesn't want to deal with long distance?"

Rogue made a tsking sound. "Surely that won't bother her. She doesn't seem like the type of girl to expect you to choose between her and your career, that's ridiculous."

Sting rubbed his face, "She's not but . . ." he threw his hands up in exasperation, "four hours!"

Rogue placed a supportive hand on his friend's shoulder, "It's just six months, and it will do wonders for our business. You know I can't do this without you, I'm a disaster when I try to speak in front of people I don't know. I'm sure once we get started it will be over before you know it! Plus, four hours is not too far to come home for the weekend every once and a while, right?"

"Right, right, just six months," Sting gave a sad smile. "I should be happy so yay, good for us," he shook his fists in the air unenthusiastically.

Rogue gave him a pat on the back and helped himself to coffee, "That's the spirit."

Cana awoke, squinting up at the sunshine pouring through the window. Bacchus was out of sight, but she could hear the sink running and the sound of him brushing his teeth. She narrowed her eyes in the direction of the bathroom and called out, "Do you have a toothbrush here now?"

Bacchus didn't answer, but she heard the noises of him his mouth and splashing water on his face. Then he came out of the bathroom and leaned up against the door frame with a grin, "Let me guess, that freaks you out?"

Cana wrinkled her brow and made a noise of disgust, "I never said it freaked me out, I just wanted to make sure you weren't using mine. That would be gross."

He acted surprised, "Really? Well damn, I've been using it all this time."

Cana sat up, "You have not!"

"Of course I haven't," he chuckled walking into the kitchen area of her studio. He turned on the coffee maker and rubbed his face. "What's got you all wound up this morning? It's just a toothbrush."

"But that means you know you're coming back. . ." she sighed, stretching her arms over her head.

He stormed back towards the bed, "No, that means I hope I'm coming back. Shit, Cana it's not like I took one of your drawers and put a bunch of clothes in there. I'm not trying to move in or anything, I just want to be able to clean my mouth, sue me. Don't worry, you can still kick me out when you're done with me."

Cana wrinkled her nose, "Relax Sparky, don't get so defensive. I didn't say I didn't like it." She stood and walked right past his surprised face into the bathroom. She poked her head out, "And for the record, if you lived with me and pissed me off, I would still kick you out."

Bacchus chuckled and leaned against the wall outside the bathroom, laying his head back up against it and grinning while he chewed his lower lip. He turned his head towards the doorway and called, "So does this mean you'll come have lunch with me today?"

Cana snorted, "I don't know, depends, are you buying?"

His grin grew into a full smile and he sauntered into the bathroom. He slid his hands from her hips to her stomach, gently peppering kisses on her shoulder and neck. "Yea, I'm buying," he murmured, catching her eyes in their reflection in the mirror and giving her a slanted smirk.

Erza frowned down at the seating chart, "This isn't going to work, I don't know where I'm going to put your Uncle Crawford. "

Jellal didn't even look up from his book, "Then don't invite him."

"But we have to invite him, he's your family!" Erza protested.

He turned a page, "So what, he's an angry, bitter old man. When he isn't telling racist jokes, he's telling sexist ones. Why should we have to deal with the headache of what to do with him?"

"You're sure he can't go with your parents, or maybe one of your other aunts or uncles?" Erza tried moving a couple names around, then wrinkling her nose, she put them back.

Jellal looked up from his book and slammed it closed. "You know exactly why he can't, Grandpa died and he tried to screw each and every one of them out of their inheritance. Seriously Erza, now that I think about it, I don't want him there. Don't invite him."

"But . . .but . . .but . . ." Erza stared down at the board, looking at Jellal's side and then her own. He had all these blood relatives; parents, aunts, uncles, cousins. He had so many that he thought nothing of kicking one out. Erza frowned, she didn't have a single one. Then she was surprised to feel Jellal's hands move down her arms, as he leaned down to rest his chin on her shoulder and look over her efforts.

Jellal grabbed the little slip of paper with his uncle's name on it and tossed it aside, "Erza, just because we share a bloodline, doesn't mean he has to be there. He is not family to me. You are family to me, these guys," he pointed at the table with Makarov and her adoptive siblings at it, "and these guys," he motioned to the table of his friend, "are family to me. Obviously, I want my parents there, but other than that I couldn't care less if you invited any other Fenandezes."

"But they are all your relatives, they are important!" Erza exclaimed.

"Erza," Jellal sighed into her hair. "The only person I care about being with that day is you. Seeing you is all that matters to me."

She turned her head to him and kissed him. Erza pulled away with a smile, "Then I will be sure to be there." Jellal grinned and strode back to his book, stopping suddenly when Erza said, "While I do appreciate your sweet words, saying nice things isn't going to get you out of helping me set up a seating chart. We won't invite your uncle, but I won't leave out the rest of your family just so you don't have to do any work."

He turned back to her with a smile, "Damn, you saw right through me huh?"

She winked, "I'm watching you Fernandez."

"Shooby-doobi-doobi do, baby one and baby two." Gajeel sang as picked up Yajeh from the bouncer seat and placed him on the changing table, "Whew! Made a little doodoo,." Gajeel smiled when the baby gurgled happily back at him, then proceeded to change Yajeh's diaper with a look of disgust. Shutora happily sucked on her tiny fist in the swing next to them.

Levy wandered into the room, rubbing her eyes. She giggled, "That's a nice song Gajeel." He met her half way when she stood on tippy toes to give him a kiss. "Thank you for letting me nap, I needed it so bad."

"Well, I wouldn't want ya falling asleep at the table when we go out tonight, gihihi," Gajeel grinned.

Levy frowned, "Do you really think they are ready for us to be gone for the evening?"

"Don't do that," Gajeel warned.

"Do what?" she walked over and took Yajeh off the table.

"Get all overprotective and worried, it's not good for you or them. Ya gotta take some time for you or you're gonna go crazy. Hell Shrimp, I need some time alone with you or I'm gonna to go crazy." Gajeel looked down at Shutora and smiled, "They are cute and all, but papa needs some lovin' too."

Levy laughed, "We're just going to dinner."

He crossed his arms and smirked down at her, "Ya think so?" When all she did is stare up at him confused, he leaned over and whispered in her ear, "I'm totally getting some in the truck before we get home."

Levy's face turned bright red, "Gajeel!"

He just grinned and gave her a light smack on the ass, "Just thought I'd give ya a warning." He put his hands in his pockets and sauntered out of the room. "Shooby-dooby-dooby-do, A man's gotta do what he needs to do." He turned and pointed in her direction, "'specially when it comes to lovin' you, my sexy girl with hair of blue." Then he disappeared into the rest of the house.

Levy sighed and shook her head, then smiled down at her little boy, "Your daddy is a mess."

Yukino stepped into Sting's apartment with a smile, then was surprised when Sting slammed the door behind her and grabbed her. His kisses up until this point had been gentle and sweet, but this time his lips were full of desperation and passion. She struggled to stay upright, her entire body seemed to fall into him, it's response to his touch instinctual and out of control. It almost frightened her how badly she suddenly wanted him, she had never felt it so strongly before.

However, when she pulled away, it was obvious that something was wrong. There was a sadness darkening his usually bright eyes. Desire tucked away, she touched his cheek, "What's the matter Sting?"

His response was to hug her, this time he was gentle, holding her close and resting his chin on her shoulder. Sting sighed deeply, "I have to go away for a while, starting in January."

Yukino frowned, he had to go away? She had started getting used to spending most of her time with him. Whether they hung out here, at her sister's, or went out with the guys; every night involved him. Last weekend she had finally spent the night, and the prospect of doing that again was so exciting she couldn't sit still on the whole drive over.

Sting noticed her silence, he lifted his head to look at her, "I didn't scare you with that kiss did I? I've been freaking out about telling you all day and you looked so beautiful and I have to leave you . . ."

Realizing he needed her reassurance, she smiled and ran her fingers through his hair, "No Sting, you didn't scare me. It was nice. Why do you have to go?"

He took her hand and led her to the living room area, sitting on the couch and pulling her down with him. Sting cleared his throat, "Before you and I started seeing each other, Rufus got Rogue and I an interview for a job consulting for this big company in Crocus on how to improve their web presence. The guy they hired did not work out, so they called and offered it to us."

"Well that's great!" Yukino cheered. "Won't that be so good for your company?"

"Yes, it's awesome for us, but it means six months in Crocus." he leaned back on the couch and ran a hand through his hair. "It's just I don't want to leave you, but I have to go, it's basically career suicide to let something like this go."

Yukino frowned, "Crocus is a bit of a drive."

Sting looked at her and then he turned away with a frown, "If you don't want to still see me during this I understand. I know it's so far and we just started dating. . ."

"Why wouldn't I still want to see you?" Yukino asked. "Wait, do you want to break up with me?"

Sting turned back to her sharply, his eyes wide. He grabbed her hand, "Of course not!"

Yukino smiled sweetly, "Well, you of all people know all the ways we can keep in touch! You might have to teach me to use most of it, but we could video chat and text. Four hours isn't great, but it isn't too far, maybe I could get a weekend off every now and then to come see you."

Sting sat back and watched her out of the corner of his eye, "That would be nice."

"And we still have over a month left together right?" Yukino leaned closer to him. "We'll just have to make the most of it."

Sting sighed and touched her face, "Yukino, I love you."

Yukino beamed, "I love you too!" He kissed her gently and she took it upon herself to deepen the kiss, trying to repeat the way he had kissed her earlier. This seemed to surprise him, he took a moment to react, then he caught up to her. He grabbed her sides and pulled her close to him. Then his hands were running up and down her back, and through her hair. When she released him, he appeared to be struggling, his eyes were clenched shut and his brow furrowed. "Did I not do that right?" she asked, worried she had made a mistake.

He opened his eyes and grinned at her, "No Yukino, you almost did that too right." Sting stared at her for a moment, his eyes bright, his breaths still coming fast. Then he blinked hard and breathed out deeply, "Dinner right? We were going to have dinner? Why don't we go do that?"

She bounced off of him, still on a high from the kiss and his confession, "That sounds great!"

Mira was so happy that she practically skipped over to where Laxus sat having dinner with his friends. When she hopped into his lap, his eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't protest. Laxus grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist, then gave her a kiss before returning to his drink.

"Hey, gross! Get a room, we don't want to see any of that sappy crap here," Bixlow complained with a smile.

"Shut up, you're just jealous," Laxus took a drink of his beer.

"But I am! Mira when is Lisanna going to be back in? Obviously Strausses are the only people worth dating since even Evergreen melted her heart enough to let Elfman in."

Evergreen gave Bixlow the stink eye, "For the last time, I am not dating Elfman!"

Bixlow laughed and motioned to her cocktail, "You won't be saying that after a few more of those!"

"I think Lisanna might be a little too far out of your league Bixlow," Freed smirked into his scotch.

"Wha! That's harsh Freed," Bixlow pouted. Then he sat up straighter and grinned mischievously, "Oh, I get it. Are you just feeling left out? Maybe Mira's got a cousin or a hidden sister that you can have," he noted Freed's look of distaste, "or brother, you know, whatever mood Freed's in that day." Freed rolled his eyes.

"Sorry Bixlow, it's just the three of us I'm afraid," Mira giggled.

"Well that's a bummer," Bixlow frowned.

Mira rested her head on Laxus' chest and stared out into the dining room. She sighed and looked up at him, "I got my dream, isn't it beautiful?"

Laxus looked down at her with a confused expression, "hmm?"

Mira threw her arms out wide, "Everyone is here! Just like I wanted!" Macao and Wakaba sat at the bar with Makarov, all her adorable couple friends sat having their own separate romantic meals, even the Connell's sat in a booth with Asuka, though she was already asleep in her mother's arms. Then Elfman walked in the door and waved to Cana. Fairy tail had become a place where everyone could spend their evening.

Laxus gave her a little squeeze, "Yea babe, you did it. This place is great."

Mira tapped her lip thoughtfully, "You are right about one thing Bixlow, Lisanna needs to come back. She's the only piece missing."

"Did you hear that? Mira said I was right," Bixlow grinned and crossed his arms.

"I wouldn't get used to it," Freed said dryly.

Mira looked over at Natsu and Lucy again, "Lucy looks so pretty tonight! Is tonight some sort of anniversary for them? Even Natsu looks more dressed up than usual."

Laxus raised a brow, "How the hell would I know? Natsu looks the same to me, always wearing that damn scarf like a security blanket."

Mira noted that Natsu kept touching the scarf and his knee bobbed in place, "He looks nervous . . . ." She sat up straight, "Oh my god, Laxus!"

Laxus sighed, "No way Mira, don't start that shit again. Leave them be."

Freed glanced over at the couple, "You are right Mira, Natsu does seem not himself."

Bixlow whistled, "Think he's gonna ask her tonight? It would be smart, she's one beautiful baby."

"He is lucky she puts up with him, I for one would never put up with such a child," Evergreen added.

"That's right, you need someone a little more . . .manly," teased Bixlow.

Elfman took the seat next to Evergreen, "Who's manly? Are you talking about me?"

Evergreen covered her face and screamed into her hands. Elfman's eyes widened, "Okay, forget I asked."

"Look at Natsu and Lucy, doesn't he seem nervous to you?" Mira asked.

Laxus gave her a little squeeze on the hip with the hand that was holding her and whispered in her ear, "Let it go Mira, or I'll be forced to take you in the back and make you forget it."

Her eyes widened as she felt an excited chill roll through her. She lifted her lips to his ear and whispered back, "Be careful what you threaten, I might just take you up on that." She giggled at his surprised expression and the way his entire body tensed at her statement.

Laxus huffed out a sigh and rested his face in his hand, "Damnit, I can't win with you." Mira just laughed and gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

She heard Bixlow sigh, "Damn, I've got to find me a Strauss."

Lucy had definitely noticed that Natsu seemed nervous. He was so fidgety she was tempted to ask him if he needed to use the restroom. "Is everything okay?"

He furrowed his brow, "Of course it's okay, why wouldn't it be okay?"

"Because you just wrote Lucy on the bottom of the receipt instead of your name," Lucy said with a smile.

Natsu looked down quickly at his writing, "Damnit!" He crossed out her name and wrote his own. "It's your fault Lucy, you're just so distracting!" He looked back up with a toothy grin.

Lucy blushed and stood, then pulled her coat from the back of the chair, "So over to the bakery then? Are you sure you need a whole cheesecake, you could just get a piece of one here you know. It's the same thing." Natsu stared at her with a brow raised. Lucy laughed, "Okay, of course, let's go get you a whole cheesecake."

They waved goodbye to all their friends who were now sitting at the bar. Lucy thought it was weird that they all seemed to be staring at them with wide grins on their faces. Plus Mira was hugging Cana extremely tight.

Cana wiggled her brows, "Go make it a night to remember Natsu!"

"That was weird," Lucy said as they stepped into the cold night air, finally aware from peering eyes.

"Yea," Natsu laughed nervously. "What a bunch a weirdos. They make you look normal." Then he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.

When they got close to the bakery, Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Oh no! It looks like Yukino left the lights on. That's so unusual for her. I hope she's not still here for some reason, she was supposed to go into town to see Sting."

Natsu frowned, "Yea, that's odd," he said stiffly.

She pulled out of his hold and put the keys in the door to unlock it. Then she practically ran to the back to make sure everything was okay, leaving Natsu behind to deal with locking the door behind them.

When she arrived in the kitchen, she stopped. Lucy was surprised to find dozens of wooden ornaments, all hanging from the ceiling. She grabbed the first one, it had a burned image of her letting Natsu into the bakery. She turned back to him, "Did you make these?"

He shrugged, "I was gonna just make them like pictures that you could hang on the wall, but I thought ornaments would be better, then we could hang 'em on a tree at Christmas. Do you like them?"

"Natsu! These are adorable!" she exclaimed, she looked at the next one and chuckled at the image of Natsu with his head in her oven. There was a gingerbread man carrying a muffin and next to it one with an image of Lucy fixing Natsu's scarf. She laughed out loud at the image of Natsu punching Toby, "Oh my god, I almost forgot about that! How is Toby doing now?"

"I ran into his brother Yuka the other day, I think he's still in rehab," Natsu frowned.

"Good, hopefully he can stay the straight and narrow this time," Lucy smiled and looked at an ornament that had Natsu sitting on her old couch with her leaning on him asleep. The one next to it was the image of a bag of lemons, "The lemons! I was really pathetic back then huh?"

Natsu grinned, "You just couldn't resist my sexy charm."

Lucy snorted, "Yea that must be it. Oh my god Natsu, this one is hilarious!" She held up the one that had her in a bubble bath with Natsu's surprised face in the background and a cloud of smoke.

"Sexiest oven fire ever," Natsu chuckled.

She smiled at the next two; chasing Natsu with pizza, their first kiss in the workshop; but stopped at the image of a kitty cat wearing a new year's party hat. "What is this one?"

"Well I couldn't draw you crawling around in your underwear! Our kids might see these one day!" he exclaimed.

Lucy looked around and noticed there was also a cat playing go fish and one holding a hammer, "Natsu! Did you make an ornament for every time I drank too much? Those aren't exactly occasions I want to remember forever you know!"

He just shrugged, "I really liked making Lucy cats."

Lucy shook her head and laughed. She ran her hand over image after image; cooking in his kitchen, eating with his family, eating with hers, snuggling in his room, sitting in front of a hibachi grill, kissing in front of a bonfire, painting the house, icing his bruises, when he gave her her car, Natsu in front of her mother's portrait, holding hands in front of their house, a wedding dress, holding Levy's babies, and Natsu carrying her into the ocean. She snorted at the image of the crashed boat, "Are you sure you want to remember this forever?"

"If I didn't have that one, I wouldn't have this one," he pointed to an ornament of them laying on a beach with a sky full of stars.

Lucy moved towards the center of the room where there were two ornaments on the table and a small gift wrapped box. "Yukino helped me with those, I wanted a couple with color," Natsu rubbed the back of his head and grinned. The last two ornaments were painted, one with the image of Lucy in his lap releasing fireflies, the other with them hugging and "I'm not going anywhere" written beneath.

"These are beautiful," Lucy breathed out.

Natsu motioned with his chin to the box, "Open it."

Lucy smiled at him and untied the bow, then gently removed the wrapping. She could feel the nerves radiating off of him as he stood behind her, fidgeting with his scarf; he was so cute. Lucy opened the box and nearly lost her breath at the image of Natsu placing a ring on her finger.

"It's been quite a year, hasn't it Luce?" came Natsu's voice behind her. She turned holding the ornament in her hand and looked up to find him nervously holding out a box. He grinned, "Will you marry me Lucy?"

The ring inside was her mother's, meaning that her father not only already knew this was happening, but he approved. How had Natsu had time to do all this? Overwhelmed, her eyes started to tear and she grabbed her mouth, snuffing out the sob that threatened to escape.

Natsu tilted his head and wrinkled his brow, "Are you okay Lucy? Was this too much? I knew it would be too much. I know you wanted simple, but I made one of these things and I liked it so much that I just kept going. Or maybe this was too soon? You're not saying anything Lucy, it's kinda freaking me out."

Lucy ran forward and hugged him tight, "Yes Natsu! I'll marry you!" she choked out. Then she kissed his smiling, relieved face.

There was a loud cheer from outside, Natsu and Lucy turned towards the front door and spotted almost the entire crowd from Fairy Tail standing at Lucy's bakery's front door. Natsu covered his face and groaned, "You've gotta be kidding me!" He pointed back in the direction of Mira's restaurant, "Get out of here!" he yelled. The group all groaned and slowly began to shuffle back in the restaurant's direction.

Lucy giggled, "They're probably going to want us to go over there after this you know."

"Well I'm not done yet!" Natsu scowled. He pulled the ring from the box and placed the box on the table. Then he took hold of Lucy's hand and slid the ring on her finger. He stared at it for a moment then looked her in the eye, a slow grin growing on his face. "I love you Lucy."

Lucy put her arms over his shoulders and smiled up at him, "I love you too Natsu." She kissed him and they heard a high pitched squeal. They turned to see Laxus, with an extremely upset Mira thrown over his shoulder, heading back towards her restaurant. Lucy laughed into Natsu's chest.

Natsu sighed, "They are all going to be so annoying."

Lucy grinned up at him, "Well, that's our family."

"Yea," Natsu smiled back, "That is our family."

He kissed her again and this time they heard a wolf whistle, "Yea Natsu! Give her the tongue!"

Natsu threw his head back and groaned, "Our annoying family." Then he stormed towards the door, yelling "Why do you always gotta ruin the moment Cana?"

Lucy laughed and began collecting her ornaments, then gently wrapped them in wax paper in one of her pastry boxes. Lucy paused for a moment before putting in the last one, the image of her letting Natsu into the bakery. Who knew that simple moment could change her whole life?

"Are you ready Lucy?" She turned to Natsu who was holding out his hand.

Lucy grabbed her box of moments and took his hand in hers. With a smile she said, "Yea Natsu, let's go."

Thank you reviewers! SoratheDragonSlayer, NekoKittygirl, meez13rulez, and I guess drakosly(& to you too? lol)

I hope the chapter didn't disappoint!